Saturday, May 26, 2012

One of the creators of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, Kevin Eastman, and Nickelodeon Animation VP Rich Magallanese showed off exclusive footage of the show at the London Comic Con MCM Expo today.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are set to return on Nickelodeon in the near future and two men involved in the reboot were present to show us more. … Confirming that the turtles themselves would be very much teenage in their actions and nature, the foursome looked brilliant and each had their very own unique looks as well as personalities. …

Fortunately, we were treated to some world–exclusive footage of the new show and I must say, even as a 23-year-old man, it’s a show that has to be checked out. Fluid animation and some top-notch voice acting from the likes of Jason Biggs and Sean Astin, the new series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is just what the kids of today need and will also provide a nice touch of nostalgia for the older viewers."

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Here are yet more pics from the NFL Players Association Premiere League Flag Football game on Friday, May 18. These were posted by Sean himself on his twitter account, and were taken by Gregg Forwerck. (Captions are as posted by Sean. You can super-size images by opening in new window.)

Prepare 2b WOW'd I just received these #NFL #NFLPA #FlagFootball game pics
Oh yeah baby... I call this 1 'It's On'

Tony Tellado: And I want to ask you, do you have coming up a journey to Middle Earth featuring Sean Astin. Can you tell us about that?

Joe Maddalena: Sean Astin is a neighbor. He lives close by, and is a friend. We’re selling a large collection belonging to the Drier family, and in the collection is – was this amazing map of Middle Earth. And I thought Sean, knowing his interest obviously in that part of the world, would enjoy seeing the map. So it was actually Tolkein’s copy, so he came by and we kind of had a little period where we went through his, you know – he took us back down memory lane and we learned interesting things. He was basically, like – he went from the Shire to Mordor on what happened, and it was an interesting response, because he said well, we’re making this movie, Elijah and I figuring we’re going to have all this time together, a year and a half, and at the end we’re going to do this epic climax, throwing the ring in the mountain, and and by the time we get there, we’ll be ready. And what happened was we were filming and there was a giant flood, and the set got wiped away, and they came in and said well, we’re going to film the climax instead, and this is very early in the process, and Sean’s like, I – we can’t do that. We’re not ready. And they’re like, you’re ready. So – and they literally – it was just like amazing insight into his world, his character. It was – it’s fascinating to meet him and kind of learn about that world.

The episode also includes an incredibly touching segment in which Maddalena restores the football helmet his friend Sean Astin wore in the movie "Rudy" and in doing so, helps Astin realize for the first time how much that movie meant to countless fathers and sons.

Astin has long collected mementos from his films—everything from the One-Eyed Willie treasure map from The Goonies to the backs of the director's chairs with his name on them. (His wife Christine keeps most of it "nicely tucked away" in a storage locker.) One of his favorite items, though, isn't technically from a movie: It's all the Lord of the Rings fan art sent to him over the years. "I have tons of poems and drawings and songs and DVDs, little dolls dressed up as Samwise," he says. "I feel like it’s wrong to throw that away."

Monday, May 21, 2012

Sean had a lot of opportunities to hang out with fellow actor/athletes this weekend. At the NFL Players Association Premiere weekend, he played flag football with Brandon Molale along with other celebrities and former football players. Brandon is known for his athletic roles in movies such as "Mr. Deeds" and "Dodgeball."

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Sean ran the Santa Monica Classic 10K in an official chip time of 56:30.3 today (source). A full report will be posted at run3rd.blogspot.com by Team Captain Leah Gutierrez in the next day or two, but for now, here are a couple of post-race pics!

Sean with Team #run3rd members Lily, Andrea, John Janie and Jackie,
posted by @LaLaLandLady

Friday, May 18, 2012

The Asylum is promoting two of their films at the Cannes Film Festival: "Adopting Terror" which stars Sean Astin and has been airing on Lifetime channels for the last several weeks, and "The Age of Hobbits" (working title), scheduled to start filming in July.

The main topic of the show today was exploring the meaning of the Obama Campaign's Commercial regarding Governor Mitt Romney's time at Bain Capital. The featured guest Dr. Noam Chomsky spoke about the advertising industry's dominance in shaping political thought in America. Today marked the appearance of Vox Populi's 1st in-studio guest Mackenzie "Mack" Astin, the younger brother of Host Sean Astin. The brothers enjoyed some repartee picking up on Chomsky's commercialization of the political sphere. Several callers offered substantive comments on the subject and a good time was had by all…

Monday, May 14, 2012

Sean Astin guest stars as a college security guard turned superhero in a second season episode of "Franklin & Bash," airing Tuesday, June 12, 10pm ET on TNT. The title of the episode and the superhero is "Viper." Rumor is the Viper wears blue and black tights! ;-)

Sunday, May 13, 2012

A clip of "Ribbit," KRU Studios' animated film starring Sean Astin as the voice of Ribbit, will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival this month. Russell Peters and Tim Curry costar. Many thanks to writer and director Chuck Powers for providing the first glimpse of the first official poster to me!

Friday, May 11, 2012

UPDATE 05/14/12:The video has been made private, and is no longer viewable unless you have the password. No I do not have it. Sorry. :-(

The director's cut of "Stay Cool" with Sean Astin, Mark Polish, Josh Holloway, Hilary Duff, Chevy Chase and Winona Ryder is now available for free viewing on Vimeo. This is in many ways a very different movie from the DVD release, which credits "Ted Smith" as director. Michael Polish (Mark's brother) actually directed the movie, but was so unhappy with the producers' recut, he asked to have his name removed from the directing credits. This version is longer, with many scenes added, some cut, different voiceover and music, and a different focus. It is worth watching.

Sean was a judge for New Technology Network's Video Challenge for students to produce a YouTube video answering the question: "What’s So Special About New Tech?" NTN is a nonprofit that works with school districts and communities to implement innovative public high school programs.

“I placed emphasis on the few who really used the learners, speaking in their own words (or scripted) about why they believe in their school,” says Mr. Astin describing his judging style. “Obviously, some got a boost from technical expertise, which was fun to see, but music, content and 'watchability' were important factors.”

Sean will be a speaker at the 15th anniversary celebration of First Things First, on September 25, 2012. FTF is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening families in Hamilton County, Tennessee through education, collaboration and mobilization. More info here.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Sean will be a guest judge for an episode of season 3 of Face Off, airing this summer on the SyFy network.

Face Off is a competition/elimination series exploring the world of special-effects make-up artists and the unlimited imagination that allows them to create amazing works of living art. The contestants are tasked with elaborate feature challenges including executing full body paint make up on models and creating their own horror villain. Challenges incorporate effects make-up, and include a wide range of skill sets including prosthetics, 3-D design, sculpting, eye enhancers, casting and molding.

Sean's new political web show, “Vox Populi: The Voice of the (occasionally interested) People,” debuts Thursday, May 3, noon-2pm PT (noon-1pm summer hours), online at the Toadhop Network. Here are answers to some common watching/listening questions. More information will be added as it becomes available.

• How do I listen live on my mobile device?
The website methods described above should work on most mobile devices. (I have tested on iPad and iPhone.) Toadhop is working on a mobile app that will make it easier.

• I don't live in the US. Can I still listen/watch?
Yes, the above methods should work internationally. You must have an iTunes Store in your country to subscribe to the iTunes podcasts, but all other methods should work anywhere with internet access.

• How can I contact the show?
You can follow on Twitter @HostVoxPopuli, send email to seanastinvoxpopuli@gmail.com or leave a voice message at 1-626-VOX-TALK (869-8258). You can call into the show live at 1-888-520-4374.

About This Blog

"I name before you all Frodo of the Shire and Samwise his servant. And the bards and the minstrels should give them new names: Bronwe athan Harthad and Harthad Uluithiad, Endurance beyond Hope and Hope Unquenchable." —Gandalf in JRR Tolkien's "The History of Middle Earth" Volume 9: Sauron Defeated